Secretary General of World Health Organization and U.S. Surgeon General to Speak at World Conference on Mental Health at The Carter Center

November 20, 2000

ATLANTA, GA.... Secretary General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland of the World Health Organization and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher will give the keynote speeches at the "Inaugural World Conference for the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders" Dec. 6-8, 2000, at The Carter Center.

The conference will highlight a broad range of mental health issues: developing prevention and promotion research, approaches to the prevention of depression and violence, training of mental health professionals, and achieving change in mental health care systems around the world through knowledge exchange and policy initiatives. More than 150 scientists and experts from the United States and aboard will participate in the conference that will result in recommendations to advance mental health promotion and mental illnesses prevention worldwide.

"Regardless of national boundaries, mental health care organizations and professionals from around the world face many of the same issues," said Dr. Greg Fricchione, director of the Carter Center's Mental Health Program. "Mental illnesses are now known to contribute greatly to the global burden of disease. Indeed much of the disability we see around the world, both in developed and developing countries, can be traced to mental and neuropsychiatric disorders. This conference will bring together the world's premier promotion and prevention scientists to begin closely collaborating to meet this major public health challenge."

There are plans to meet every two years to address these issues. The second conference is scheduled for the year 2002 in London. Co-sponsors of this conference include the World Federation for Mental Health, the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Center for Mental Health Services, the National Institutes of Mental Health, the National Institutes for Drug Abuse, the Bureau of Primary Health Care of HRSA, and the Clifford Beers Foundation, as well as The Carter Center.

Editor's Note: Satcher will speak Wednesday, December 6 at 11:45 a.m., and Brundtland will speak Friday, December 8 at 2 p.m. Please see the attached schedule for other speakers and participants. Keynote speeches and plenary sessions are open to the media, although the working groups are closed to media. If you plan to attend any part of the conference, please call Kay Torrance at 404-420-5129 to register.